1. Field of the Invention
An adapter assembly is provided for connecting a multi-contact electrical plug within a cable support arrangement, including an elongated adapter body containing a cable-receiving through passage and having a rectangular first end portion containing a chamber for receiving an electrical plug connected with the cable, and a tubular second end portion threadably connected at its free end with a concentrically arranged cable sleeve, annular sealing means being provided for sealing one end of the annular space defined between the cylindrical outer surface of the adapter body tubular end portion and the inner surface of the adjacent end portion of the concentrically arranged sleeve.
2. Description of Related Art
As evidenced by the U.S. patent to Guelden (Bell Telephone Laboratories) U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,236 and the German patent of Bernat et al No. DE 102 36 275, various adapter devices have been proposed for supporting electrical plugs relative to cable fittings.
Adapters of this type facilitate the use of the plug arrangements in rough environments—for example, in production facilities or automotive vehicles—by attaining a protective class that is higher when compared to the protective class of the plug part, such as IP65 or IP67. The idea of attaining higher requirements from environmental classifications in the IEC 61067-3-106 Variant 4, in EN 50173-1:2005, in ISO/IEC 24702 and in IEC 61918 was further developed. The afore-mentioned German patent shows a possibility of achieving these standards. This known design, however, presents a problem in that it is suitable only for the transmission of electrical signals and that, as a rule, it is necessary to enlarge the structural space in order to use the solution also for other plug parts, for example, in light conductor techniques (for instance, SC simplex uses, especially at an interval of 7.35 mm). The known design furthermore should be improved with regard to high mechanical and chemical stresses, which it does not meet in an optimum fashion.
The present invention therefore was developed to provide an improved adapter with whose help it is possible by means of simple design features to meet the rigid mechanical and chemical stresses and requirements. Preferably, it should be possible in a simple manner to facilitate the reception of plug parts of varying designs without having to change the adapter. Usefulness would be desired for plugs of data transmission technology with copper and/or light wave conductors, especially for Ethernet and field bus systems; plugs for energy supply technology with copper and/or compressed air lines; and plugs of signal transmission technology with copper conductors, especially for sensors and/or actuators.